5 ways to find a Good chiropractor
What should i look for when choosing a chiropractor?
Choosing a Chiropractor may be difficult. With the rise of pain-related symptoms in Singapore, there is a significant rise in Chiropractic clinics popping up every month. Nevertheless, there are a few key factors you can use to narrow down your choices.
What is Chiropractic?
Before we figure out how to find a good chiropractor, we need to first understand what chiropractic is all about.
A chiropractor is a health care professional focused on the diagnosis and treatment of neuromuscular disorders. Healing Hands chiropractors emphasis on treatment through manual adjustment and/or manipulation of the spine.
At Healing Hands Chiropractic Singapore, our chiropractors;
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Provides effective pain relief
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Provides customized treatment programs according to your condition
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Prescribes specific diets and exercise advice
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Advises you on your daily lifestyle to eliminate unhealthy habits
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Provides a professional and patient-centric environment
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Spends quality time treating & educating you
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For a more in-depth discussion on what is chiropractic, World Health Organization (WHO) has created Guidelines on Basic Training and Safety in Chiropractic in 11 different languages
Here are 5 ways to find a good chiropractor
As there are many chiropractors & resources out there, there will be a lot of information on how to choose a good chiropractor.
We have identified 5 ways we believe will help you determine if the chiropractor is good or not.
1) Knowing your health Goals
Chiropractors today use many different techniques as their mode of treatment. Some choose their technique based on personal preference and some choices are based on their experiences. Nevertheless, there are a myriad of conditions that the right Chiropractor can help, including:
- Lower back pain
- Whiplash/Falls
- Sports injuries
- Iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS, sometimes called “runner’s knee”)
- Plantar fasciitis
- Injuries from car accidents
- Migraines and tension headaches
- Weakness in the arms and legs
- Stiffness and pain in all regions of the back
- Pain in the neck
- Arthritis
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Bursitis
- Gastrointestinal syndromes
- Multiple sclerosis
- Scoliosis
- Intervertebral disc syndrome
- Sciatica
- Temporomandibular joint disorders (TMJ)
- Tendinitis
2) integrity and Confidence of the chiropractor
A Chiropractor should have personal & professional Integrity.
It is important because you have to trust that the Chiropractor is prescribing you the right amount of treatment sessions to ensure that you achieve the best results.
Trust and confidence is also important as they reflect the results of your condition at the end of the treatment. If Chiropractic treatment can’t help you, your Chiropractor should refer you to another healthcare professional to manage or co-manage your conditions.
Price is also another factor. We believe that prices should commensurate with the treatment and all costs should be transparent and mentioned upfront to the patient. At Healing Hands Chiropractic, our wellness care plan is dependent on our chiropractor’s assessment of your condition which ranges from $85 to $125 per session.
3) Word of mouth and reviews
This is a great place to start for anyone who is looking to find the right Chiropractor or Chiropractic clinic:
Reviews & word of mouth.
- Positive word of mouth regarding the Chiropractor/healthcare professional you are seeking is a good measure to help you ease your doubts or worries. If you are considering chiropractic for the first time or choosing a different chiropractor, seek real-life testimonials from patients that got their treatment done in that clinic.
- Google and Facebook reviews are easily accessible upon searching the web.
You can start by finding positive reviews of the clinic and determine if the reviews are genuine or superficial. The important factor to look out for is the patient’s improvement after the treatment, what they have achieved during their time at the chiropractic clinic and the integrity of the clinic.
Price is also another factor. We believe that prices should commensurate with the treatment and all costs should be transparent and mentioned upfront to the patient. At Healing Hands Chiropractic, our wellness care plan is dependent on our chiropractor’s assessment of your condition which ranges from $85 to $125 per session.
4) Clinical Competency And Experience Of The Chiropractors
The training includes proper examination, Diagnosis of your condition, and proper treatment protocols (Chiropractic adjustments).
If a Chiropractor is lacking in any of these vital attributes, they shouldn’t be treating you.
Choose a trustable and experienced Chiropractor or Chiropractic Clinic with high standards and ethics.
Your Chiropractor should assess your condition by understanding your health history and current condition.
An initial physical examination (Checking posture, range of motion etc) + Diagnosis should be given to you on day of your consultation which includes evaluation of your condition and a thorough explanation of a well-planned prescribed treatment program.
These are some simple questions you can consider while researching on a clinic:
- Have the Chiropractic Clinic changed their name during their years of practice? (Under Facebook, Page transparency)
- How long has the clinic been practicing?
- How many years of experience do their chiropractors have?
- Does the Chiropractic Clinic provide corporate outreach to the community
- Is there brand consistency in the chiropractic clinic? Brand consistency can mean the values practiced such as integrity.
5) Refering To specialists if your condition is not suitable for chiropractic
Some Clinics provide a variety of services which includes Chiropractic, TCM, and more.
Referring back to Tips #2 and #4 treating a variety of conditions does not imply that a Chiropractor is good; it shows a lack of focus and knowledge towards a profession’s practice. Although chiropractic treatment can treat certain disesases (if there isn’t contraindications for treatment), chiropractors should not claim that they cure conditions such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, or other illnessess.
Chiropractic treatment should be holistic and treat the root cause of the problem and not just the symptoms.
The right Chiropractor or Chiropractic Clinic will know when to refer you and/or co-manage your condition with the right specialist. Lastly, the right Chiropractor will always practice within their scope of practice and not deter from it for the sake of sales.
What are some of the factors to look out for?
Once You Have Shortlisted The Right Chiropractor For You, Here Are More Factors You Can Consider:
- Are the staff from the Chiropractic clinic friendly and helpful?
- Does your Chiropractor understand your condition and provide you with the same level of care on the first visit and on every subsequent visit.
- Did your Chiropractor provide you with an accurate analysis of your condition based on your findings and pain description?
- Does he or she appear eager to help you get better as quickly as possible and to empower you to take care of yourself in the future?
- Do you feel comfortable with your new Chiropractor?
- Are you getting better as a result of the treatments? (When effective and holistic treatment is given, most patients will see a significant improvement within the first few weeks of care.)
Warning Signs to avoid
- Quick 2-3 minute treatment session
- Extremely cheap Chiropractic treatment prices such as $8 or $38
- Unnecessary repetition of X-ray studies
- Extensive treatment package “70 session”,”90 sessions”,”120 sessions” (Generally most patient with mild symptoms only requires an average of 25 visits to see improvement in their conditions)
- Multiple treatment packages are sold in one establishment by a “Sales consultant” (chiropractic treatment, TCM treatment, Ultrasound treatment, physio treatment, dry needling, massage, etc…)
- Pressurizing you to sign up for or attend maintenance or preventive care programs.
- No improvement or even worsening result after 1 or 2 months of treatment
- Most importantly, your new chiropractor should be willing to refer you to another healthcare provider if chiropractic treatment is not producing positive results in a timely fashion.
Conclusion
After thorough research, you can enquire via email, whatsapp or call the clinic to book your first appointment.
For the first consultation, Healing Hands is providing a non peak hour rate (weekdays before 6pm) @ $80 and the consultation includes a Posture analysis, spinal scan, 1 on 1 consultation with the Chiropractor, and an adjustment.
Once the initial health consultation is done, our chiropractor will perform a full spine adjustment (unless there is a clinical result not to adjust it, which we will inform you on the reasons).
